Valentina and Ramiro Ortiz wanted to bring more opportunity for local athletes and the city, so they opened the doors to the Laredo Athletic Complex in June.

The Laredo Athletic Complex, 708 Chaparral St., Facilitates volleyball, basketball and indoor soccer. Athletes can find solace from the Laredo heart at the air conditioned facility, where two full courts and one half court awaits them. Futsal, "football salon," is currently running from July 7 to 28 on every Friday. Volleyball and basketball camps are being offered in August as well.

As parents of athletes, Valentina and Ramiro had their fair share of traveling to out of town sports facilities for tournaments. They wanted to provide Laredo with the same experience and give parents the opportunity to watch their children play.

"We hosts games here and the luxury of this facility is that we're able to offer tournaments here to our locals and the beauty of it is that we get to have other teams from out of town come to Laredo now," Valentina said. "So it brings people to our city as well."

Since opening its doors, the Laredo Athletic Complex has hosted two basketball tournaments and is approaching their first volleyball tournament. Valentina said teams from cites such as Eagle Pass have traveled to the Gateway City to participate in tournaments. Although fairly new, the sports facility is already garnering interest from cities asking about the next tournament."It is a new business and open to new ideas," Valentina said.

Currently, the facility offers training for basketball with Edmundo "Sonny" Rodriguez. Court rentals are also available for volleyball, basketball and soccer teams, and are offered based on availability. Valentina noted the Laredo Athletic Complex also accommodates celebrations with birthday party rentals.

"When you're giving back to your community and giving back to the kids in the community it's a blessing- not just for my kids but for everyone's kids," Valentina said. "And it's teaching children that it's possible here in Laredo too. We're contributing to the athletes here in Laredo so that they can train during the summer and improve for whatever goals and dreams that they have in mind."

The Laredo Athletic Complex will continue to offer different camps throughout the year. For more information you can contact the Laredo Athletic Complex at (956)-568-0072 or find them on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Laredo-Athletic-Complex-112193692714351/.

This sponsored article was originally published in Ask Us 2017, a special supplement of the Laredo Morning Times Advertising Department